“For This Cause Did King Mosiah Keep Them”

Brant Gardner

In spite of Nibley’s hypothesis that Benjamin could still have been alive, it is more likely that he was not, based on reconstructions of the passage of time. (See commentary accompanying Mosiah 7:1.) Interestingly, this “error” and correction parallel the similar “error” and correction of Mosiah 21:28. (See commentary accompanying that verse.) This repetition of the same chronological problem strongly suggests that the error came from the Nephite records, since both Mormon and Moroni recorded it and both had access to the same records (although Moroni may have depended on his father’s record). In any case, it is more likely that Moroni copied the error than made it, and either possibility is more likely than that Joseph made the same dictation error twice during translation.

Second Witness: Analytical & Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 6

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